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Ooh, I like this! Now, what I'm about to share is a bit of a combo between guidelines, process, and trends in my character development, but it should still do the trick!
1: Come up with an interesting concept I'd like to play. I really like playing against type, so that's often a springboard for character creation. Like a swift and smart barbarian, for instance. Sometimes, I'll even think about stat and feat combinations to pull off first, then start from there (for instance, a way to make a kitsune's bite uber powerful ASAP).
2: Simplicity is king. I hate micromanagement, so I usually don't go for classes that rely limited resources. This usually means martial classes or only partial casters. Secondly, if I do play a caster in some capacity, NEVER a prepared caster. I played a Magus once, and keeping track of everything was NIGHTMARISH. Even though I was pretty much a total noob at the time, I never wanna go through that again.
3: Damage output. Plain and simple, I LOVE combat. It doesn't mean I don't enjoy the role playing (which I also really love) or adventuring aspects, but combat ability is always my primary focus.
4: Functionality. I gain great pleasure in optimization, especially since I'm often optimizing unusual character concepts. And thanks to some ideas, it does usually lend itself to versatility, like the aforementioned smart-barian, who has 3 important Knowledge skills (albeit, not all class skills) and a couple of Dex-based ones, Acrobatics and Stealth. It's also fun making a charismatic fighter whose dump stat is Constitution. XD
5: Finally, rich backstory. If this box isn't ticked, then I'll not play the character until it is. Sometimes the journey is different, sometimes building the backstory around the mechanics, others the mechanics around the backstory, but the perfect synthesis between character and ability is what I always strive for as an aspiring writer and avid gamer. If it doesn't have at least 2-3 paragraphs worth of background, there's more that needs to be done.
And that's pretty much all I can think of at the moment! Hope you enjoyed!
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I have no rules or criteria, every character is created differently.
Not that there's anything wrong with it, just not how I roll. :-)
Hope you enjoyed!I did :)
Actually one of the things I enjoy most about all my rules is making the character make sense after making it.
Awesome! Glad you did! :D
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I never ever dump CON. I often play races with a CON penalty, but I always want a starting CON of at least 12 after racial adjustment.
Weak CON leads to fewer hp and weak Fort saves. Whilst these things can be mitigated, they increase the likelihood of character death.
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My rules of thumb when creating my own characters. For context, I usually play PFS.
- Avoid 2+Int skill classes unless they sidestep the problem, such as a Wizard's Int reliance or a Summoner's eidolon. Skills are a core part of the game, and not being at least passable at them means forcing the party to pick up the slack.
- 14 Con or go home. I will take damage, I will be forced to roll vital Fort saves. 12 is a hard maybe if the character has a durable class chasis and can protect themselves with spells and/or distance.
- Am I a low Will save class that does not lean heavily on Wisdom? I will take Iron Will. It is my responsibility to the party. Dominate Person is one of the highest damage spells in the game.
- Is my character a caster who can learn Detect Magic? I will put a rank into Spellcraft at every level. It is my responsibility to the party.
- Diplomacy builds bridges. Intimidate burns bridges. Bluff bets all of your bridge building funds on a die roll. If choosing between the three, go for max ranks in diplomacy unless I have a really good reason to do otherwise. This is the entire team's bridge, after all.
- Know my surroundings. If Perception is a class skill, put max ranks into it. If it is not a class skill, consider making it one. Likewise, every class has at least one monster-identifying knowledge as a class skill. Don't be that Cleric/Sorcerer/Druid/etc who knows nothing about their own craft. It's embarrassing.
Everything else is soft rules about equipment (backup ranged weapon, golf bagging, etc) that I pay less attention to because the minutia of gear across multiple characters is tedious and encumbrance penalties are obnoxious when you like to play a lot of casters.
I usually start with class first, then pick a race after coming up with an interesting concept.
As I do not play with full groups, we always come up with a NPC to fill any gaps. Allowing all of us to play something different or try some other class.
Unless needed for class, Cha or Int is always my dump stat. At the same token unless Dex is the main stat for a class, it is always my second highest stat. Cause free AC and reflex saves, have been a life saver on a number of occasions.
Skills, always always max perception. I aim for a few utility skills like diplomacy/intimidate/bluff/heal/disable device... Depends on class, but heal is always handy, I have as a barb kept the healer from dieing with a good heal check.
Weapons, generally tie in with the character and race. But all classes have at least a weapon and a dagger. Yes I even give casters a sword or mace of some kind and a dagger. Cause everyone knows the pointy end goes in the other man.
All martial classes have melee and a ranged weapon. And all classes carry: rope, crowbar, dagger, water skins, light source (even if they cast), holy water, bed roll, cooking stuff....
(when using point buy) A tanked stat (less than 10) is a flavorful character flaw, multiple tanked stats usually means you're that guy. NO tanked stats makes me raise an eyebrow; What, your character is above average at everything?
Con 14+ always, 12 is a hard maybe if I have the right build for it.
If I have 1 or 2 to build points left, put them into str to get those extra couple pounds of carrying weight.
An 18 after racial modifiers is a good target. An 18 before racial modifiers is often not worth it. Two 18s after racial is really pushing it.
If it's not on the PRD I don't use it.
If I have a build in mind I want it online by no later than level 6, preferably 3 or earlier. And it has to be serviceable until then.
If multiclassing, take the one with the larger hit die at 1st level for those extra hp.
If I am playing a class with weak will saves, Iron Will is a must at the earliest level I can comfortably fit it. And I should strongly consider being a half-elf, half-orc, or dwarf for extra will save boosting.
Make sure I have invested enough of my wbl into AC that at minimum a cr=pl foe needs a 10 on the die to hit me with its best attack. Ideally make it so a cr=pl+1 foe needs an 11.
Always invest in perception. Unless I am strapped for skill points or have an ACP of -2 or worse, consider investing in stealth.
1 skill point per level spent on different class skills just to activate the extra +3 is often a good investment.
If I can make a character str based or dex based, I need a really good reason to jump through all the hoops to make it dex based.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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Wow, so many differences.
I'll play a 10 Con, but I'm uneasy about playing with a Con penalty. I'd like to try it sometime but it just seems like asking for PC death.
Other than that, not too many restrictions. I like to build characters to cover holes in the party, or if that isn't needed, to try out new mechanics I haven't used before.
But I've played characters with 1 skill point/level, characters who didn't put ranks in Perception, and spellcasters who knew nothing of Spellcraft or Knowledges.
I've played characters with Wisdom penalties on poor Will saves.
I do like my characters to be effective, but there's such a huge gap between "ruthlessly optimized" and "worthless" that a lot of fun mechanical wiggle room exists. I've played a (15 PB)fighter who took a 13 Int just for Combat Expertise. He also had an 8 Wis. I've played a cavalier with a 16 Int and 14 Wis. Both were perfectly fine in APs, and in fact the fighter GM accused me of being brokenly powerful.
So overall:
Concept first
As long as your concept makes a reasonable adventurer, your effectiveness will probably be okay.
Power Attack is pretty nice for any melee character.
For constructed, my casters have certain rules where their lower lvl spells must be the foundation of their higher lvl spells. Need Dimension door to qualify for Greater teleport.
Beyond that, my rules are;
1) Have atleast 1 social skill.
2) Have an escape method.
3) If evil, be decent to the party, and not an idiot.
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1.) Come up with a good background story that fits the campaign
2.) Come up with a good character concept that seems fun to play
Those two often come hand in hand. sometimes the background story comes first and I model the concept around that, sometimes it's the other way around. but those two steps ALWAYS come first.
3.) Pick a class that's as close to the concept as possible
4.) Pick a race (if it isn't already picked through steps 1 or two) that makes sense for the campaign and backstory
5.) Roll the attributes and hope for the best
6.) See where the weak spots in your rolls are, how to best overcome them and how to incorporate them in the role play. if I have to have a dump stat, make it matter in play. low dex? role play him clumsy. low cha? make her an undiplomatic bastard.
7.) re-write the background a bit to explain those shortcomings
8.) have fun
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Step One--
1) Cool character concept and how the mechanics fit concept. For example, my haunted oracle was always "haunted" by her dead brother. He was also the zombie no matter how many times he was killed who shows up on her Raise the Dead revelation, dressed in formal Taldan clothing (he died at the Opera in PFS Scenario #7 Among the Living).
2) Think about race and how it makes a character them. For example, My summoner is a summoner because she is a half elf. She was socially isolated at a young age and craved a friend who would always be there for them. My pit born tiefling's parents are clerics of Sheyln and she struggles with nature vs nurture all the time.
If race is not important to the concept, usually default to human.
Step two--
1) Make mechanics work.
2) 12-14 con.
3) Use traits to shore up weaknesses.
4) A social skill.
5) Perception
6) Have one primary thing the character can do and 2-3 back up strategies built in. For example, my Paladin was primarily a pole armed wielding two handed weapon user and all her feats were used to back that concept. But, she carried a composite long bow and on several occasions used it to deal with foes at range. She also had a long sword she could pull if grappled and used it on several occasions. She also maxed out diplomacy. Resources are allocated about 70-30.
7) Avoid classes with 2+skills unless I have a reason, like high intelligence to deal with it.
8) In PFS (going to 11th usually), either have an even numbered stats where I'm going to put all my attribute bonuses in or two odd ones where I plan in advance to get +1 at 4th and 8th.
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In light of my obsession with magical swordsmen, I have a very simple set of criteria.
step one: Am I playing a magus?
yes: Good!
no: try again!
I usually change up my personal rules each campaign. In my previous campaign, I played a CN summoner who worshiped a CG deity. In my current campaign, I am playing a LG oracle who worships a LN deity. So I have basically decided that my next PC will be NG or true Neutral, will worship a deity of identical alignment, and will be built to personally engage in melee combat as his primary focus.
DOHT
Dotting this so I can give an answer when I'm not about to scuttle off to class...
(For PFS.)
- Have a "main thing" and be competent at it.
- Don't overcommit to your "main thing." I've seen characters that have such high Diplomacy, Knowledges or Perception they just don't have to roll anymore. Have a reasonable chance of failure.
- Don't specialise in too many things. Leave some stuff for your party members.
- Try not to burden others with your weaknesses. Boost your Will save if it's low, get scrolls/potions of Fly if you've dumped Strength and you need to scale a wall, and so on.
- Make sure Perception is a class skill. Spend a trait on it if you have to. Put a rank in it at every level.
- 14 CON.
- Have your build come online sooner rather than later. Level 3-5 is ideal. Waiting for level 7 before you become "cool" takes way too long.
- Make sure your build stands out compared to similar builds. What makes your character unique? In PFS, I see a lot of players, and a lot of characters. I like to do things that haven't been done before, or aren't very common. I'm sick of two-handed melee builds, or blasting Wizards/Sorcerers. Do something interesting with it.
- Be useful in combat. Cast spells, deal damage, help others, whatever.
- Be able to survive an unfavourable combat. Either through sheer HP, AC, damage output, or defensive spells.
- Be able to deal with a variety of enemies. Have different weapons for DR, use different elemental spells if your enemy is immune to one, and be able to buff your party if none of your offensive spells stick to the enemy. This one's a bit more down the road than at character creation, but still something to be aware of.
- Be useful out of combat. Be it Diplomacy, Perception, buffs, knowledges, whatever. Try to cover at least two things.
- Try to have at least one Knowledge covered. Even if there's an INT-class in the party, monster identification is great to have multiple shots at.
- Try to have at least one social skill. Charisma is a natural dump stat and not all classes get Diplomacy as a class skill, but being able to help in social situations is great.
- Favored Class Bonus usually goes into HP, unless I'm going for a specific build. 1 more skill rank is tempting, but those few extra HP can make the difference.
- Don't dump Intelligence. Skill points are a precious resource.
- DEFINITELY don't dump Wisdom.
- More an in-character thing, but don't be a murderhobo. Be interested in the story and don't just brute-force everything. The game's more interesting that way.
My biggest deviation from most of these rules is my Nagaji Cleric. I made him to be the biggest murderhobo and one-trick pony ever (Channel Smite negative energy). He has an INT of 5 and only ranks in Diplomacy. As a Cleric, I'd get one skill point per level anyway, so I leaned into it. I learned with my first character that diversifying your one skill rank per level is a bad idea. My thought was that if I put one rank in every class skill, I'd be great at everything. Instead, I was terrible at everything, because I had no focus. I could put a rank in something else, but that only means I'm diluting my specialty and being moderately good at two things, rather than being stellar at one.
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I have a printed guide for PFS players to help them through first level and planning though third level pointing them to various information sources. I have a printed guide for my home game.
Do you have a digital version you can share? I'm interested in seeing the baselines for builds in a PFS context.
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Most of my guidelines are the same as Sensten's. When it comes to role play/fluff and the mechanics I follow a process of reflexivity wherein each shapes and informs the other in a bidirectional or circular manner.
I'm not a believer in the false dichotomy of "role play vs roll play"; I feel a character should be effective at both. One way I achieve this it to come up with explanations as to why the character has the items, ability scores, skill ranks, feats, spells and other abilities that that they do. For example my half-orc witch has STR 14 and CON 16; as an itinerant physician, herbalist and healer he knows the importance of maintaining good health and fitness, as well as having spent much of his life travelling and carrying his wares which have helped to condition his physique.
Additionally, without compromising the overall effectiveness of the character I like to find small ways to make them more rounded in aspects unrelated to combat or adventure; most often I'll use skill points to this end e.g. maybe they're a former sailor so I put some points in the profession skill or maybe they're a fire sorcerer who likes to play the flute (in a way that's totally unrelated to his magic) and so I'd put some points in perform. I once played an ifrit arcanist with the Defensive Combat Training feat; the explanation was that as a student he liked to do wrestling as a hobby.
I also like to think of seemingly insignificant details such as favourite colour, name of their first kiss, preferred wine and so on; for example my witch wears silk underwear and likes to write. If I'm playing a magic user I like to try and come up with what would be their explanation for what their magic is and how it works.
Finally I like to have some sense as to what ways my character's beliefs and personality could potentially change. For example as my witch was a quite unpleasant, antisocial and selfish (his CHA was 8), as he spends more time with the adventuring party he's becoming more sociable and helpful (his CHA is now 9 and shall increase to 10 on the next level). It was always my plan for my witch to develop in this way so long as the other PCs weren't horrible people. This is to avoid a rather irritating scenario where someone at first level states their character is timid and naive and by level 13 after having cast down giants and dragons; wielding artefacts and spells of power; with entire kingdoms or even gods owing them favours they are still the same timid and naive character they were at level one.
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Awright, Cole's Big Book Of Character Building Rules:
1. Don't be a wanker, the true golden rule of gaming. Know someone in your group is genuinely arachnophobic to the point of cold sweats when someone says the word "spider"? Don't make that werespider. Game's gonna be focused on personal horror and flawed characters? Save that fearless monster slayer with no relatives he cares about for something else. Mechanically garbage when everybody else built their characters to a reasonable degree of effectiveness? Try again, sparky. Super-optimized when everybody else has some built-in foibles and flaws because it's that sort of game? Adjust.
2. Cool, so no ideas just to troll your own group. Well done! Up next: What do you really want to play? Don't get hung up on your group having a melee combatant already or whatever- play something you're going to have fun with. Playing a healer "because we need one" is a lame experience- play a healer because you want to, not because someone says you have to.
3. Who the hell is this person you're playing? What did they do before getting mixed up in the high-risk low-yield world of adventuring? Did they grow up on a farm? Were they a solider in the army before mustering out or deserting? Then assign at least one skill to what their "day job" used to be. Just because you hated mucking out the barn so much you ran off to fight giants with a sword doesn't mean you've forgotten how.
4. Do you know any of the other characters? If so, work out how you know them.
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Although I have made quite a number of different characters over the years, I realized that there are indeed a couple of rules each and every one of them tend to follow.
1. At least 14 Constitution. It is the amount of Con that I feel save with, even though I might still get slaughtered (depending on the proximity of various types of creatures).
2. At least 3 skill points per level. It is the minimum I'm willing to work with, and even then I find it a bit low.
3. I want decent Armor Class (something around 20-25 during lvl 5-9). There is no need for flunkies to destroy me on a regular basis. I only have one exception to this rule, but he was made to get hit (and punish for it).
4. Make sure they have a positive Acrobatics/Climb/Swim after armor check penalty. It doesn't have to be stellar, but being able to jump a 5ft gap, climb a rope, or not drown in a puddle are prerequisites for my characters.
5. Have a main tactic in battle, and be good at it. A main ability stat of 16-18 (after racials) at lvl 1, and if it is possible let more things run of that stat (skills, spells, magic items that help).
6. Have something for out of combat, either face-powers, knowledges, survival/heal, or something. Don't just wait for the next combat (or worse, try to force combat to happen because you're bored... don't be that person).
7. The character's personality needs a quirk, either a flaw or focus on something. Although we stat them, they should not become lifeless Mary Sues who just answered the call. I have an extremely lazy person, who thought up an imaginary friend to do the work (figment familiar, who has a very tough life), and another one who is obsessed with flying, and wants to interrogate birds for their secrets.
8. And last but not least, each of my characters owns a Skeleton Key. I do not know why, but it seems to be in my basic gear for characters.
If the build doesn't enable me to do at least one thing to make the party and or DM facepalm I'm doing something wrong.
